After taking a few days to herself to reflect and rest and go hiking, Hillary Clinton made her first remarks since her concession speech in a conference call with campaign staffers and volunteers on Friday.
"I really appreciate you being on this call so that I can tell you one more time how grateful I am to each and every one of you," Clinton thanked her supporters, noting that their dedication "certainly lifted my spirits over the last few days."
She described the campaign as "one of the greatest honors of my life," admitting, however, that the past couple days since the election have been a bit of a struggle. (It was only her 30-year political career that got salted by a bigoted, racist reality TV star, after all.)
"Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: These have been very, very tough days," the presidential nominee told those on the call.
She added: "This is a tough time for our country. I think we have seen how people have been reacting to the events of this election and I know we have got to be reaching out to each other to keep it clear in our own minds that what we did is so important. It looks like we are on the path to winning the popular vote, and that says volumes about the importance of your work and the lasting impact it will have."
Despite her defeat by Donald Trump, Clinton won the popular vote by a substantial margin, exceeding her opponent by more than two million votes and 1.5 percentage points—a fact which has her supporters frantically grasping for some system loophole or workaround to get HRC into the White House.
"This is a hard loss for all of us," Clinton continued, "because we know what was at stake in this election and we have to do everything we can to continue to support the causes we believe in."
The 15-minute call ended on a note of hope and encouragement as Clinton urged her supporters to not lose faith in their causes and goals.
"When you're ready, I hope you will get up and back in there and keep fighting," she said. "I never thought this campaign was about one person or one election. I believe in everything we fought for and I believe in you. So, thank you all from the bottom of my heart."
Later on Friday, Clinton made her first in-person appearance at her campaign headquarters in Brooklyn where she hosted a party for her team. Attendees included her husband, Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea Clinton, as well as her top aide and close confidante, Huma Abedin.
Apparently, Hillary Clinton has seen an influx of letters and deliveries in the days following the election. She recently received 1,000 red roses from a group of supporters, which she brought with her to Friday's event and distributed among her staff members in a particularly sweet gesture of gratitude.
Sarah Lindig is the senior digital editor, overseeing special projects for Harper's Bazaar.
